Former Indian Army Chief (retd) Gen. Ved Prakash Malik today said police and central para military forces should be trained to counter Maoists, rather than called for the army to tackle it. “There is no coordination between the centre and the state; the police forces have not been trained to take on the Maoists and the government should be made them more effective,” Gen. Malik told reporters here. The former army chief was on private visit to Shillong and visited the family of Kargil martyr who was posthumously, awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, Captain Clifford Nongrum.As of now, he said, “there is no proper infrastructure (training and weaponry) and man management to tackle the Maoists.” “You isolate them (Maoists) and then strike them with force and side by side take care of developing those tribal areas,” Gen. Malik said. Pointing out that the primary role of the Army is not to tackle internal security, the former army chief said; Army should be used as the last resort if the other tactics fails. “Maoist’s problem is of a different nature and it was created because of neglect of the tribal and there has been no development in the tribal areas,” he stated. On the insurgency problem in the Northeastern states, Malik admitted that the region was alienated from the mainstream India which gave birth to insurgency “There has been a weakness on the part of India in integrating the Northeast with the rest of the region. The development of the Northeast was thought by the authorities much later,” he stated. Asked on Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (APSA) withdrawal, the former Indian General said, APSA is the legal instrument that provide cover to the army while conducting operations against the insurgents. Meanwhile, former Indian Army Chief General (retd) Ved Prakash Malik today warned Pakistan, even when bilateral talks are on. “Pakistan cannot be trusted. Notwithstanding negotiations and peace talks with Pakistan the security force on the ground must always be on high alert,” Gen. Malik told reporters here. He said “You cannot trust Pakistani establishment even though political negotiations are on. Let the politicians do what they are doing, but army and intelligence should be vigilant.”